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Slideshow: A year of ''Meet the Mayor''

Before I had the foggiest idea that Foursquare existed, our esteemed managing editor pitched me the idea of interviewing mayors. Following a deeply confusing 20-minute-or-so conversation, I started to understand that she wasn't asking me to interview Me
Term limits? Those are for losers. Here are the 12 Foursquare mayors who hung onto their turf
By BARRY THOMPSON | September 24, 2011

Photos: PBR Skateboard Pub Crawl

The Pabst Blue Ribbon skateboard pub crawl takes to the streets of Boston on August 13, 2011.
From Cambridge to Downtown Crossing | August 13, 2011
By PAT HOWLEY | August 19, 2011

Skate of the union

The malt angels from Pabst Blue Ribbon were on hand to fuel us up, and to hook up sweat bands that, incidentally, would come in handy to absorb the blood.
Pissed pedaling
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 19, 2011

Will Kindles kill libraries?

This week, OverDrive itself will host its own conference to help libraries deal with a massive onslaught of patrons clamoring to check out books on their Kindles. Can embattled public institutions handle such a drastic change?
In this corner: libraries struggling to bring in patrons. In the other: Kindles looking to expand their market. Will it be a bloodbath, or can they hug it out?
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | July 29, 2011

Authors talking: Spring readings in Boston

America’s best young novelist, Britain’s most popular mystery writer, a bearded indie rocker, and a dead master populate this spring’s mandatory literary events.
By ear
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | March 18, 2011

Boston Book Fest 2010 Podcast: "Crimes and Misdemeanors" with Joan Parker, Andrew Gross, Raffi Yessayan, Hallie Ephron, and David Boeri

As promised, the Boston Phoenix will be podcasting every panel from this year's second annual BOSTON BOOK FESTIVAL, yet another smashing success last weekend. (Don't...
By Carly Carioli | October 20, 2010

Hit the Books

The Boston Book Festival happens this Saturday, October 16, from 10 am to 9 pm at various locations in Copley Square.
Thirty-three reasons you can't miss this year's Boston Books Festival
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | October 15, 2010

Fall Books Preview: Getting booked

Two Sedarises, two New Yorker favorites, and a famous neurologist are among the highlights of this fall’s book events.
Readings, festivals, and other seasonal literary events
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | September 17, 2010

Critics' choice?

This month, Jonathan Franzen became the first living American novelist in 10 years to make the cover of Time . His Freedom — out this Tuesday, and his first novel since 2001's National Book Award–winning best seller, The Corrections — has been anoin
Jonathan Franzen and the Great American Novel
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | August 27, 2010

HOT BEANTOWN SPOTTINGS: Celebrities

Whether it's the new tax incentives for filming, Boston's photogenic urban landscape, or just an excuse to slurp real clam chowder (now there's one competition...
By Stuff Boston | July 26, 2010

9 Boston scenes to look out for in "Knight and Day"

Crazy car-flip stunt scene caught on security camera. (Read our "Knight & Day" review here)Who's going to be running out to see Knight & Day...
By Andrew Cominelli | June 25, 2010

Role model?

John Waters gets up close and personal
John Waters gets up close and personal
By SHAULA CLARK | June 04, 2010

Moneybags Menino

Inside Boston’s political back rooms, there is a growing suspicion that Mayor Thomas Menino is sitting on millions of dollars — tens of millions, maybe as much as $400 million — that could be used to save vital city services, such as, among many examples
The mayor cuts services, but sits on a stash of cash.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 14, 2010

Library woes

In an attempt to save four Boston Public Library branches that are slated to close due to budget shortfalls, some state legislators from Boston have threatened to block all state funding the library receives if it shutters any of its 26 branches.
Plus, Arizona declares war on immigrants
By EDITORIAL | April 30, 2010

Pardon the interruption

Maybe it was when saxophonist Kelly Roberge, instrument in hand, leapt off the Cambridge YMCA Theatre stage in the middle of a performance by the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra and fled the auditorium — as if in extreme gastro-intestinal distress.
Quartet of Happiness, Jerry Leake, and Jazz Week
By JON GARELICK | April 23, 2010

Atul Gawande: Will Obamacare bankrupt Boston's Children's Hospital?

Our fanboyism on ATUL GAWANDE is well-established: we think he should be surgeon general. Brilliant medical writer. Brilliant medical thinker. One of the very few...
By Carly Carioli | April 02, 2010

PODCAST: The Great Poe Debate [MP3]

Happy 201st birthday, EAP.Considering that the man was the original architect of the detective story -- that'd be The Murders in the Rue Morgue --...
By Shaula Clark | January 21, 2010

George Saunders + Ha Jin

"Creative writing" superstar (and MacArthur award "genius") George Saunders - he of the many elegant, hilarious, disturbing Vonnegut-esque short stories and essays - joins forces...
By Ian Sands | January 13, 2010

One-of-a-kind lamp or super-sized tote?

Given that we are always diligent about fulfilling our New Year's resolutions, the next 12 months will surely see us whittling down our weights with...
By John Ross | January 11, 2010

Battle of the Bulger

Earlier this fall, with almost no fanfare, Beverly-based Commonwealth Editions published a new biography of Boston's archetypal politician — James Michael Curley: A Short Biography with Personal Reminiscences — written by former Massachusetts Senate pr
Former Mass. Sen. Pres. William Bulger defends James Michael Curley's legacy — and his own
By ADAM REILLY | December 18, 2009

The Great Poe Debate

Quoth the city, "Evermore." The Boston Public Library is reclaiming one of its most famous and influential native sons for good, in the new exhibition...
By Jason OBryan | December 08, 2009

PODCAST: David Gergen, Lani Guinier, Jack Beatty, and Michael E. Porter on Obama's First Year

A year ago tomorrow we woke up and elected the first-ever black President. A couple of weeks ago at the Boston Book Festival, a panel...
By Carly Carioli | November 03, 2009

PODCAST: Dennis Lehane on Boston Noir (from 2009 Boston Book Festival)

Photo by Boston Book Festival via FlickrIt was hard not to feel cheerleaderish during Saturday's inaugural BOSTON BOOK FESTIVAL, which crammed 90 authors into 40...
By Carly Carioli | October 27, 2009

Hardboiled hub

When I was growing up in Roslindale a few decades back — among tribes of ignorant, second-generation immigrant kids whose favorite words began with “f” and “n” and who liked to torture small animals and beat up small children before they moved on to thei
The city’s gritty, criminal underbelly has redefined the dark, artistic vision known as Boston noir
By PETER KEOUGH | October 23, 2009

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